Sunday, April 16, 2017

Marco Polo: The 2007 Version

Every
time someone takes another shot at filming the travels of the famous Venetian
merchant, it opens the door to charges of “whitewashing.” It is a problematic
practice, but Polo’s Italianness has rarely been rendered with much
authenticity either. Frankly, you have to give the underrated Netflix series
credit for its casting. Lead actor Lorenzo Richelmy is indeed Italian, unlike
Gary Cooper, Alfred Drake, Horst Buchholz, Alain Delon, Rory Calhoun, and the
guy from Krull. Ian Somerhalder is
not exactly Italian either and Brian Dennehy sure as heck isn’t Mongol, but at
least most of the supporting cast looks relatively credible in Marco Polo: The Complete Miniseries (the
shorter one from 2007 directed by Kevin Connor rather than the really long one
from 1983), which is now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.

So,
there is this family from Venice that thinks there is money to be made on the
Silk Road. That means dealing with the great Kublai Khan, Genghis’s grandson.
Polo’s father and uncle hope to win him over with their Venetian charm, but
young Marco does the job too well. At the Khan’s command, Polo will stay in
Mongol-dominated China to give him the benefit of his truth-talking outsider’s
perspective. For a young adventurer less than thrilled with the prospects of a
merchant’s life, this really isn’t such a bad shake, especially when the great
Khan sweetens the deal, giving him the lovely Temulun as his wife.

Up
to this point, the first hour of Connor’s Polo
tracks pretty closely with the initial Netflix episodes, but they diverge when
the 2007 Polo meets Temulun and her younger sister Kensai. He falls hard for his
wife, but even though she never fully reciprocates, they come to an
affectionate understanding. Alas, she will inevitable rebel and be executed
while Polo is off serving as a provincial governor for his Khan.

After
a long subsequent mapping tour of the distant borderlands, Polo returns finding
a much weaker Khan. He also discovers Kensai has grown up to become a dead
ringer for her sister. Unfortunately, just when Polo believes he has another
chance at happiness, courtly politics rudely interrupts once again.

If
you can get past Dennehy as the fierce and noble Khan, then the 2007 Polo is a reasonably presentable, picturesque
production, but that is a big if. Granted, Connor and the Hallmark team were
probably wise to eschew the Fu Manchu makeup, but that also guaranteed Dennehy
would look like a complete fish out of water. At least Somerhalder looks Italian
and he buckles swash relatively well. As Polo’s best friend and loyal slave
Pedro, BD Wong always looks like he wants to push his beloved master in front of
an express commuter train, but in fairness, we would all probably look that way
if we found ourselves in a similar situation.

Desiree
Siahaan looks appropriately winsome as Temulun and Kensai, but she also has
some nicely turned moments of high dramatic tragedy. Luo Yan and Kay Tong Lim classily
round out the cast as Khan’s wise Empress Chabi and Lord Chenchu, Polo’s
minder-protector, respectively.

If you enjoy watching people in richly appointed
robes skulk and conspire around well-designed period sets, then this is your Polo. There are also two pretty solid
fight scenes, but the double flashback opening is just confusingly redundant (“yes,
I remember it all like when I told it to Rustichello of Pisa when we were both
being held for ransom”). The way Polo goes native and remains enamored with superior
Chinese knowledge and customs could earn it a new lease on life on the
Mainland, but they still might not care for the part about Japan’s military superiority.
Sort of entertaining for those who get nostalgic for the big “event” miniseries
of the 1980s (like the other Marco Polo),
the 2007 Marco Polo is now available
on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.

About Me

J.B. (Joe Bendel) works in the book publishing industry, and also teaches jazz survey courses at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has written jazz articles for publications which would be appalled by his political affiliation. He also coordinated instrument donations for displaced musicians on a volunteer basis for the Jazz Foundation of America during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Send e-mail to: jb.feedback "at" yahoo "dot" com.